The Baltimore Ravens are back in the conversation, and Dan Orlovsky isn’t shy about where he thinks that road can end.
On Thursday’s edition of “First Take,” Orlovsky said the ceiling is as high as it gets for Baltimore if Lamar Jackson stays healthy. “With Lamar Jackson healthy, the Baltimore Ravens can get to the Super Bowl,” Orlovsky said.
“There's no doubt about it. This is a very good football team. ...
I think the wide receiver corps is probably the biggest question mark for me. ... Outside of Zay (Flowers), your twos and threes are questions.
"Cincinnati doesn't have those, Pittsburgh doesn't have those, the Chargers don't have those, Denver doesn't have that, Buffalo doesn't have that, New England doesn't have that. And so, as great as Lamar is, I think he's carrying, from a pass game perspective when it comes to his receivers, a bigger burden than all those quarterbacks attached to those teams."
That kind of optimism has been floating around Baltimore for years, but the results haven’t matched the hype. Since Jackson took over midway through the 2018 season, the Ravens have reached the AFC Championship Game only once, in 2023, and they still haven’t made it to the Super Bowl.
There is reason for the buzz again, though. Jackson is expected to run more after dealing with hamstring and back issues last season, and former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter is in as head coach, which has helped build anticipation that this could finally be the year Baltimore puts everything together.
Jackson’s impact has always been the engine here. When he’s slicing defenses with his legs, the Ravens look like a different team altogether. His 2019 season showed exactly why, when he ran a career-high 176 times for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns on his way to the first of his two league MVP awards.
But last season told a different story. Hampered by injuries in 2025, Jackson ran only 67 times for 349 yards and two touchdowns, and Baltimore stumbled to an 8-9 finish. That marked the Ravens’ first missed playoff appearance since the 2021 season.
Now the task falls heavily on Jackson again, especially with the receiving group still looking shaky beyond the top names. Zay Flowers and tight end Mark Andrews are back, but Rashod Bateman and Ja'Kobi Lane bring more questions than certainty.
Bateman has 15 career TDs, but he had only two last season and was arrested in June on family violence charges. Lane, a third-round pick out of USC, is still trying to prove himself.
Baltimore also took a hit up front after losing former offensive lineman Tyler Linderbaum to the Las Vegas Raiders in free agency. The plan to patch that spot got even tougher when center Danny Pinter tore his right patellar tendon during a joint practice with the Minnesota Vikings.
Even with those concerns, the Ravens still sit in the Super Bowl mix with the fourth-best odds at +1200, according to FanDuel. The message around Baltimore is simple: the talent is there, the expectations are there, and if Jackson can stay on the field, this may be the moment they finally break through.
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